The last two were sometimes specifically referred to as the Carmentae, and in ancient times might have been two aspects of Carmenta rather than separate figures; in later times, however, they are distinct beings believed to protect women in labour.

The Camenae were later identified with the GreekMuses; in his translation of Homer'sOdyssey, Livius Andronicus rendered the Greek word Mousa as Camena, and Horace refers to poetic inspiration as the "soft breath of the Greek Camena" (spiritum Graiae tenuem Camenae) in Odes II.16.